Tell Secretary of State Husted: Restore Ohio's early voting hours

Following unprecedented Black voter turnout in Ohio during the 2008 presidential election, Republicans there have been looking for ways to diminish the Black community’s electoral power.

Now, under the leadership of Secretary of State Jon Husted, they’ve turned to eliminating the opportunity to cast absentee ballots on weekends leading up to Election Day. This is a clear attempt to limit Black voters’ and other urban dwellers’ access to the polls.

Join us in telling Husted to bring back weekend early voting hours so that all Ohioans have the opportunity to vote.

Here's the letter we'll send to Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted on your behalf. You can add a personal comment using the box to the right.

Dear Secretary of State Jon Husted,

I am writing to demand that you extend early voting hours for all Ohioans to include weekends.

It took the outrage of concerned people nationwide to get you to address the unjust system you previously endorsed — expanded early voting hours for rural and suburban Republican-leaning counties and a rigid 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekday schedule for polling sites in counties where Black communities are concentrated.

Now, in your quest to restore “uniform hours” statewide, you’ve robbed every Ohioan of the opportunity to vote during weekends, a necessity for people with strict work schedules and others who look to their religious communities to help them get to the polls.

As the Ohio Secretary of State, it’s your responsibility to ensure that every Ohioan has equal access to the vote. Your current position is an affront to all Americans who believe that voting is a right, not a privilege. I urge you to expand early voting hours to include weekends for all Ohioans now.